“You don't have me yet,” she said with a tired smile. She wanted this as badly as he did. She loved his company, and she knew that they worked well together, and she thought that she could do some important things for him, given the right opportunities. He had convinced her. The only real problem was Steve now. She didn't even feel as guilty about leaving her investment banking firm. Cal was right, she realized, they didn't really appreciate her. And if she hadn't hit the glass ceiling yet, she knew she was damn close to it. But at Dow Tech, as Cal said, the sky was the limit.

“What do you think, Merrie? Will you do it?” He had tried not to pressure her all afternoon, but it was hard to hold back. He just wanted her to take the job so badly.

They had also met with Charlie McIntosh that afternoon, and she was surprised that even he encouraged her to take the job. Given the direction the company was taking now, he thought she'd be very good for them. “You won't regret it, if you come out here,” he said, sounding more like an old friend than the thorn in her side he'd been for the entire road show. “And you already know the company, Meredith. There won't be a lot of surprises here for you. Besides,” he smiled at her benevolently, “Cal is a great guy, and a pleasure to work for.” He treated him more like a son or a nephew than the CEO of the company that employed him.

“I've never worked for a publicly held company, and I just don't want to start now. I'm too old to start worrying about shareholders, and whether or not the stock market is going up or down and taking us with it. But you two are young enough to enjoy it.” He seemed relieved by his decision. “I hope you take the job, Meredith,” he urged, and she didn't feel so much pressured as wanted and appreciated. Here, she really was needed.

Cal invited her to dinner that night but she said she wanted some time to herself, to do some serious thinking. She had room service bring her scrambled eggs, and she called Steve at the hospital, and was lucky to find him.

“So how's it going?”

“Great, unfortunately.” She sounded tormented. She had been weighing the pros and cons all night, and she felt more confused than ever. One part of her wanted to leap at the chance, and the other told her that she owed it to Steve to stay in New York and stick with what she was doing. She felt guilty even putting the possibility out there for discussion. But she had come this far, and now she had to. “It looks terrific. And I think I'd love it here, or the job at least. I have no idea what living in California would be like. The job is the real draw for me. But what about you, sweetheart? What do you really think about this?”

“I think it's something you really have to look at,” he said fairly. “That's why I told you I thought you should go out there.”

“But what about you? If I take this job, what will you do?”

“Find another trauma unit,” he said simply. He didn't sound as emotionally invested in the decision as she did, which surprised her.

“But what if you don't like what's out here?” Where he was was state of the art, and in a far bigger city than San Francisco. In many ways certainly, San Francisco seemed very provincial. You really couldn't compare the two cities, although Cal said that the quality of life would be better in California. But both she and Steve had had a love affair with New York since they'd gone to college.

“Do you want me to come out and take a look?” Steve asked sensibly. “I think that's the only way we'll be able to make the decision, don't you? I'll catch a plane tomorrow after work, take a look around, and see who I can talk to in the trauma units out there. Maybe I can take Monday off too, and then at least we'll know what we're talking about.”

“Baby, I love you,” Meredith said with tears in her eyes. He was always committed to make things easier for her, not only in small ways, but in some very big ones. “It would mean a lot to me if you'd come, Steve.”

“Good. Then I'll do it. Besides, I want to take a good look at this guy and make sure he's not too good looking before I let you take the job. I'm not sure about all this stuff about Gary Cooper.” He was only half kidding and she knew it. But Steve knew he had nothing to worry about. They had a solid, happy life together, and nothing could jeopardize that, for either of them. She was certain of it.

“That's not what appeals to me about the job,” she said easily. “It's just such a great company, and he's a good person to work with. He's got integrity, tremendous energy, and some fantastic ideas for the future. I think he's going to triple the size and impact of the company in the next two years, not to mention the profits.”

“Then you should give it some very serious thought, Merrie. I'll be there tomorrow night. Just tell me where to meet you.”

“Let me know your flight, and I'll pick you up at the airport. And Steve …” She hesitated for only a fraction of a second, loving him more than she ever had, because he wanted the best for her. He was astoundingly unselfish, and such a decent person, it was part of what she had always loved about him. That and the fact that he was smart, had a great sense of humor, worked like a dog, really cared about what he was doing, and had the best body she'd ever seen, and she still found him incredibly sexy. It was an unbeatable combination, no matter how different their jobs were. And besides, she liked that part. It stimulated both of them that their careers were so different. “Thank you, baby, you don't know what this means to me,” she said gently.

“Listen, maybe this will be the best thing that ever happened to us. Maybe we'll even decide to have kids in California.” She made no comment and he didn't push it. She felt she had enough to think about, just worrying about his job and Cal's company, without adding babies to it. And as she hung up the phone, she felt as though an irresistible force were propelling her forward, almost as though this had been meant to happen. It frightened her a little bit, but it was also incredibly stimulating.

She spent all of Thursday with Cal again, following him to meetings, and talking to key employees. She had a better sense of his organization and staff than she'd ever had before, and so far she still liked everything about it. She checked in with her office that afternoon, but nothing much was happening, and they had no idea what she was doing. She had told them that she had to go away to attend to family business.

“Would you like to come to dinner at the house tonight?” Cal asked as they wrapped up at six o'clock. Everyone else was gone, and she noticed that most people didn't work as late as they did in New York. It was never unusual to see people working till nine or ten o'clock in her office, and sometimes considerably later. But as Cal had pointed out to her from the first, the quality of life in California was considerably different. People seemed to care more about their health, their personal lives, their time off. And after work, they went home, or out to play tennis, or work out. It seemed a healthier, happier, more well-balanced existence. In New York, the people she met in the business world looked as though they existed under a flat rock, they were pale and tired and stressed, and most of the time looked frantic and unhealthy. This was certainly very different.

“I'd love to come to dinner, but I have to pick Steve up at nine,” she explained. “I don't want to screw up your dinner.” They exchanged a smile, they already had an easy, close, comfortable working relationship. After the time they'd spent on the road, and now here exploring the intricacies of his company, it was almost like being married.

“I was going to have dinner with the kids early anyway. Do you want me to drive you?”

“You don't have to do that. I'll take a cab, and we'll go back to the hotel and talk.” Cal had made an appointment for him at SF General for the next day, and another at the hospital he'd mentioned in Oakland. And she knew that Steve had called his friends at Stanford. He was going to have a busy day on Friday, while she went out to meet some important clients with Cal, he said he wanted her to meet them. Meanwhile, they had heard that day that his stock had gone up further. It had skyrocketed in the week it had been on the market. Everything was coming up roses for him, particularly if he could get Meredith to join his company.

“Why don't you come home with me, and I'll barbecue some hamburgers and hot dogs?” It was the other side of his life that always intrigued her, it was so out of sync with the business genius she saw in him, and the young high-tech tycoon that the rest of the world saw. The thought of him barbecuing in his backyard amused her.

“Okay, I'll come,” she agreed, “if you don't think your kids will mind.” She still remembered the cool reception she'd gotten from them on her earlier visit.

“They'll be fine,” he assured her. And they were, for the most part. Andy remembered her and shook her hand with a smile this time. He even remembered that her husband was a doctor. And Julie was cool to her, but politer this time, she even asked how their trip had gone, and told her that her father had brought her a really great sweater from Paris. Meredith didn't tell her that she had helped to pick it out, but she was secretly pleased that the child had liked it. Mary Ellen was still the only holdout. She looked irritated as soon as she saw Meredith get out of the car with her father, and disappeared upstairs to her room moments after. She came back downstairs again for dinner, but only long enough to pick at half a hamburger and then say that she had to go back up to do her homework. But she had looked startled, and not particularly pleased when Meredith mentioned that she'd met her mom in London. If anything, it seemed to make Mary Ellen more suspicious of her.